


Champion.

by magic_one



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: 2026 Formula One season, Carlos is comforting, F1 - Freeform, Formula 1, Formula One, Future Fic, Lando is panicking, M/M, Max Alex George Charles and Seb are mentioned, Panic Attacks, fluff at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22362304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magic_one/pseuds/magic_one
Summary: It's 2026 and Lando is so close to winning the championship. He doesn't know how to deal with that.
Relationships: Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82





	Champion.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I promise I'm gonna get to work on the continuation of my flower shop AU but I really needed to get this out of my head first :'D
> 
> Is this super self-indulgent as I really want Lando to be a world champion in this decade? Yes.  
Am I projecting onto Lando? Absolutely.  
Am I posting this anyway? Unfortunately.
> 
> This definitely isn't my best work, and it's kind of a mess, but I still hope someone out there likes it :'D
> 
> Please don't share this fic outside AO3, and know that this is completely separate from and not supposed to speculate about the people or future events in the fic!
> 
> Any comments, kudos, or feedback are super super appreciated!

Lando was fine.

No seriously, he was absolutely fine.

Pacing around his hotel room, absentmindedly kicking around one of the 3 empty Red Bull cans on the floor was a perfectly normal activity for a 27-year-old Formula One driver, no matter what his trainer might say. 

It didn’t matter at all that he was currently tied for second in the driver’s championship in the incredibly tight 2026 Formula One season. Leading Max and Alex who were fourth and fifth respectively, tied with George and behind Charles in first. It didn’t matter that there were only about 9 points separating everyone in the top five and they were at the last race of the season. And it definitely didn’t matter that he  _ somehow _ managed to get pole position earlier that day when McLaren didn’t expect to even get _ close _ to the race pace of Ferrari and Mercedes. 

He had just planned on getting a little extra iRacing practice before the race the next day. Then a little practice turned into a lot, so he had to drink a Red Bull just to stay awake even though he was warned against even touching one. He had a passing thought that Max would be proud. He then found out that the buzzing of the energy drink quieted the buzzing in his brain, which he desperately needed, so he drank more, and now he was wide awake when he should be sleeping, pacing in his hotel room and everything was  _ fucking fine. _

Lando kicked one of the cans so hard that it hit the wall, ricocheted back at him, and hit him square in the head. He swore loudly.

He wasn’t fine. 

He sank to the floor, leaned against the wall and curled up into a little ball. He felt like he was 19 again, panicking before his first official race because there was so much pressure, so many expectations other people had for him, expectations he had for himself. But back then he wasn’t even close to winning a  _ race _ , never mind winning a fucking world championship title.

Wow, a championship title. 

Lando let that sink in, the first time he had really allowed himself to do so. He’d been close sure, in previous years finishing fourth in the standings as his highest result, but McLaren had had an absolutely wild year, a breakthrough. He was catapulted onto the podium, more times than in any years prior. He thought it would take 2 more years for them to be able to  _ really _ compete with everyone else for the championship, he gave himself 2 more years to get ready. But it came so much sooner than he thought and now he had to face the fact that if he did well the next day, he would be able to add his name to a legendary list. 

He tried to hold them back, but tears started streaming down his face. He had to do well,  _ he had to.  _ This was the moment his whole life had built up to, this was his goal. 

_ Then why did it feel so fucking terrifying? _

It wasn’t supposed to feel like this, Lando was supposed to be on top of the world and celebrating. He was close, he was really close! He just had to finish well in this last race, he could do that, he  _ had _ done that in other races. It would be wrong to say that McLaren had a completely dominant car that year, but they had a damn good piece of machinery that Lando honestly felt proud to drive. He would love to bring it home to win McLaren’s first world championship in so long, but there was just so much pressure. 

He was fully panicking now, rocking back and forth on the ground, not even try to combat the tears anymore. It wasn’t fair, it really wasn’t fair. Why did he have to be the one that couldn’t cope with expectations of the biggest race of his career? Why didn’t he have the strength that Max or Charles had? They both had two titles under their belt, how did they manage to even stand without passing out on the night before they won. Lando was even  _ with _ George the previous year, the night before  _ he _ won his first title, he wasn’t having a panic attack. He was calm and ready to fight, like a real driver should be. George didn’t roll around on the floor like a little kid like Lando currently was because he wasn’t a little kid.

Neither was Lando, not anymore.

Lando knew that even with the influx of younger drivers from lower categories over the years, a lot of the grid still thought of him as the baby of the paddock. He was 27 dammit, he didn’t need Seb ruffling his hair every time they crossed each other’s path. But sometimes that teenage uncertainty would rear its ugly head and make Lando question the place he carved out for himself in the Formula One paddock. It just wasn’t fair. He worked hard, really fucking hard to get where he was, and it was stupid that one silly little race out of the many he had done was somehow able to make his brain think that all of that work was meaningless.

Except it wasn’t only a silly little race.

It was the one that could make him a champion.

And he didn’t know how to fucking deal with that.

Everyone had always told him to breathe whenever he got nervous, like if he just took a couple of deep breaths all of his problems would be solved. Lando tried to breathe, but all that happened was he started breathing too fast, too well. The tears started running faster and faster and he started breathing harder and harder and suddenly he was a wreck, an absolute mess in the head. He couldn’t be saved, he was gonna die right there in a hotel in Abu Dhabi before the last and most important race of the season, of his whole career, and it was going to be all his own fault. 

This all wasn’t fair.

Lando heard the click of the hotel door as someone stepped inside very quietly, obviously trying to tiptoe inside to avoid waking him up, he was really supposed to be sleeping. 

The person then proceeded to trip over their own feet and swore under their breath. Through hazy and tear-filled eyes Lando could see that it was Carlos. Shit. This was exactly what he needed right now, for Carlos to see him like this. Carlos was so happy for him when Lando got pole position, the last thing he wanted to do was make him worried or sad.

Carlos walked in further, cringing at the possibility that he might have woken Lando, but he quickly noticed the other driver on the floor, not okay in the slightest.

“ _ Shit,  _ I hope I did not wake- hey, hey, what’s wrong cabron?” Carlos ran over and dropped to his knees beside Lando. 

Lando couldn’t get anything out beside ragged breaths.

“Can I touch you Lando? Is that okay?” Carlos asked, not wanting to hurt him.

Lando nodded and Carlos pulled him into his arms, rubbing his back softly. “I’m right here, focus on my voice, not on the one in your head.” Carlos gently grabbed Lando’s hand, twisting the gold band with an orange sapphire set on top of it that was resting on Lando’s ring finger. 

“Feel this? You’re still alive mi vida. You are still here, with me, your handsome fiancé who loves you very much.” Carlos said, kissing Lando’s forehead.

That’s right, they were engaged. They were getting married. That was one of the best days of Lando’s life, Carlos getting on one knee and proposing in a beautiful garden, on the absolutely wonderful day that it was. Lando felt nothing but calm, nothing but happiness. He clung to those feelings in his moment of panic, the image of Carlos’s skin glowing in the afternoon sun, his hair gently blowing in the wind, the utter perfection of it all. His breathing slowed and he wrapped his arms around Carlos, trying to steady and ground himself.

“That’s right, come back to me, you’re doing so good.” Carlos murmured words of encouragement to Lando, and reached to wipe the tears off of his face. 

“Thank you,” Lando whispered, burying his face in the crook of his fiancé’s neck.

“You do not need to thank me, not at all. Are you able to tell me what happened?” Carlos ran his fingers through Lando’s curls, massaging his head a bit.

“Just- just got overwhelmed by everything. I’m  _ this  _ close to winning a world championship. A world championship Carlos! I can’t deal with that, I’m not ready! You should be the one almost leading the standings, not me. I’m too young, too inexperienced, too emotional. I can’t even get pole position without panicking and breaking down, I can’t win, I just can’t. I’m going to disappoint the team, my family, and everyone else around me because I couldn’t get my shit together. I’m 27 for fuck’s sake, I’m not a teenager anymore, I shouldn’t be acting like this.” Lando ranted, tears coming back in full force. Carlos took his hands, stood him up, and led him to sit down on the bed. 

“Lando, you wouldn’t be this close to a championship if you didn’t have the skill and talent to drive wheel to wheel with the best. You worked your very attractive ass off to get where you are right now,” Carlos said and Lando laughed weakly. “I have seen your journey, I was there when your time in this paddock started. You inspire me everyday cabron, you deserve this, and you can win this race. I know you can.”

Lando smiled, wiping away tears for what he hoped was the last time of the night, “if only for you, I’ll do what I can.” 

“So you’re feeling better? Just remember, I’ll be there on the track, possibly not in your mirrors as I am starting much lower than you but whatever. My presence is unmissable,” Carlos joked, a tinge of disappointment evident in his voice and Lando could tell that he wasn’t happy with his result at all.

Lando got up further on the bed and rested his head on Carlos’s shoulder. “You’re doing amazing as well you know, your day will come, you still have time. You’re too good to not win a championship, you’ve even said it yourself.”

Carlos chuckled, “yes but that was when I was drunk and saying lots of different things. But thank you, even though you should not be comforting me, you should be getting to sleep to have enough energy for tomorrow.”

Lando glanced at the Red Bull cans still on the floor. “I honestly don’t think that’s possible right now.”

Carlos picked up the nearest one to him and threw it in the garbage bin, managing a perfect shot, which prompted a whispered “show off” from Lando.

“But you should still try,” Carlos said, landing another can in the bin perfectly.

Lando smirked and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “you can’t make me.”

Carlos smiled mischievously, “are you sure about that?” He said, and pounced, tickling his fiancé, causing Lando to laugh hysterically and fall off of the bed. Carlos was quick though and managed to catch Lando before he could go lock himself in the washroom.

“I will kick you! Don’t try me, you may be my fiancé but you are not immune to violence, especially when you deserve it for committing such a heinous crime!” Lando laughed, kicking his feet up as Carlos held him, pinned down on the floor. 

“What a drama queen you are! Wow, and I thought I was engaged to a future Formula One champion, not a guy who can’t handle a little bit of tickling,” Carlos teased. 

Lando smiled innocently, “you are!” Lando reached his head up to kiss Carlos, causing Carlos’s grip to loosen. Lando then got the momentum and ability to flip them so that he was pinning Carlos down. “World champions also have to be smart and cunning!”

Carlos was stunned, and then laughed a laugh that made Lando love him even more every time he heard it. Carlos looked at his fiancé with so much love and adoration that it made Lando blush. “There is my Lando.”

“Here I am,” Lando replied.

“I love you.” 

And when Lando struggled and fought and overtook and somehow managed to cross the finish line in first, when his engineer was screaming over the radio, when he saw fireworks and did doughnuts at the finish line, and when he stood on the podium as a 27-year-old Formula One World Champion, all he would be thinking about is those three words, and how soon he could go back to celebrate with the man who said them.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, any kudos, comments, or feedback are always welcome and appreciated!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this brain vomit :'D


End file.
